


dig up his bones but leave the soul alone

by dmachiavellian



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: A Mikaelson Finds Elena First, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Kol Mikaelson, But Ships Are Tagged In The Next Fic, Dysfunctional Family, Family Drama, Family Issues, Gen, Main Focus Is Family, Multi, Protective Elijah Mikaelson, Protective Klaus Mikaelson, Protective Rebekah Mikaelson, Reunited Family, Ships Are Secondary, There will be romance, mikaelson family dysfunction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:55:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dmachiavellian/pseuds/dmachiavellian
Summary: the youngest dies by the claws of a wolf, his siblings are slain by the draw of his father's sword. vampirism is created out of grief, for the soul they never got back, the one who died too young. the mikaelson siblings left to forever mourn their baby brother.the youngest is reborn anew, lost and separated from those who mourn him. he grows with those who learn to love him. in the end, it will come down to the choice of his family in the past and present.
Relationships: Bonnie Bennett/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 37





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Something you should know probably before going into this is that... Elena Gilbert will be partially based on the books and partially on the show. Meaning, she will be half human (for now) and half angel, although I've taken some serious liberties with that. Isobel is still her mother, and is still of the Petrova bloodline. Her angel side comes from her father, who won't be John Gilbert in this. She's still portrayed by Nina Dobrev.
> 
> She'll have an additional aunt, Judith (Grayson and John's sister), and Judith's husband as an uncle. Jeremy is still Miranda and Grayson's son, etc. Meredith Sulez will also be in this, and you can imagine her being portrayed by Lindsey Morgan.
> 
> That's all. Continue (if you want).

In the year 1001, there was a death that would change the supernatural world forever. Young Henrik Mikaelson, only ten years old, is the reason vampirism exists in the world, although he never knew this himself.

In the year 2001, a boy appeared out of seemingly thin air, with long hair and blood stained clothes and no memories of the life he's lived before. He's taken in by Judith and Robert Maxwell. Young Henry Maxwell, now, with no family they could find with his DNA. 

He grows up from there, a ten year old boy already with not a single memory of the ten years before he was _found_. He is the cousin of Elena Gilbert and Jeremy Gilbert, who are both younger than him. He is the son of Judith Maxwell (nee Gilbert) and Robert Maxwell. He is the nephew of Grayson and John. That is all he is, that is _who_ he is. Henry Maxwell. A well behaved, well mannered boy with an unruly fear of dogs.

"Do you really not remember anything?" Caroline Forbes, one of Elena's school girl friends, had asked him once when he was fourteen. "Or are you just faking so you don't have to go back to your real home?"

"This is his real home." Elena chided, glaring at her blonde friend. Henry shrugged it off, used to Caroline putting her foot in her mouth. For the past four years, he's been unfortunate enough to be saddled with the friends Elena and Jeremy surround themselves with. Bonnie Bennett, Caroline Forbes and Meredith Sulez were Elena's close circle of friends. Jeremy preferred keeping his friends away from the Gilbert household because of how many girls were always around, and Henry simply preferred Matt Donovan & Tyler Lockwood, even though he was one to two years older than them. Or, that's what they all assumed. 

Since he was ten when he was found in 2001, they had naturally assumed he was born in 1991. No one knew for sure, but that made him the eldest of the entire friend group, and the unofficial leader. The only one who could contest for it was Victoria 'Vicki' Donovan, who was born in 1991 as well. The only thing is, her birthday was in August, and they suspected Henry's was in February. The official date they decided on was February 20th.

It isn't as if the group ever truly got along. Vicki and Henry were always at each other's throats, due to the fact Vicki had always been the oldest up until he arrived. Caroline and Meredith always found some reason to argue with Tyler, whether it was over something as simple as which sandwich was better or if they were being too "girly". Jeremy took the chance whenever he got it to instigate fights between them because he never had to stay around to see how it played out. Elena, Matt and Bonnie were the only ones who got along with everyone. Eventually, Uncle Grayson and Mom stopped letting Henry and Elena hang out with their friends at the same time in the same house after school.

The Sommers-Gilbert-Maxwell family were a close one. Grayson, John and Judith Gilbert had all grown up incredibly close to each other, and stayed that way long into adulthood. Miranda and Jenna Sommers were similar in that nature, something Grayson and Miranda had bonded over when they began dating. Robert Maxwell didn't have siblings, but once he married Judith, he gained two brothers in laws, a sister in law and a sister in law-adjacent Jenna, who was his favorite without question. Jenna had gone off to college in 2007 and John left not long after, never one to stick around for long.

Robert and Judith were debating moving to a different town when May 23rd, 2009 sealed the decision for them.

* * *

Elena pushed through the crowds of teenagers, tears brimming her eyes while she looked for her cousin. Arguing with Matt over basically nothing and everything at the same time was not on the schedule for tonight. She just came out to have fun. More accurately, Caroline strong armed her into agreeing to come out to try to force her to have fun.

"Henry!" She shouted over the music, cupping her hands around her mouth to make her voice louder. The boy in question turned his head at the sound of his name, but his eyes didn't automatically land on Elena. He looked right past her, quizzically furrowing his brows as he tried to identify the source of his confusion. A heavy sigh passed her lips, being jostled backwards by the people moving by her. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, she shouldered her way through the crowd until she was close enough to reach out and grasp onto his fingers. 

"Fuckin' Christ, Lena." He startled, automatically jerking his hand away. Sadness temporarily forgotten, she grinned at his surprised expression, mouthing a 'sorry'.

Brushing off the apology with a shrug, he accepted her hand into his again, expression morphed back into one of curiosity. "Where's Matt? I saw you two talking earlier."

"I'm gonna call my parents to come pick me up." She replied instead, eyes cast downward. "Matt and I go in a fight and I just don't want to be here anymore. Do you want a ride?"

Truth be told, no, he didn't. He was enjoying himself. For once since the day they met, he and Vicki weren't at each other's throats. In fact, they were flirting. It was weird, but it was a welcome change. He meant to tell her as much, he did, but the way she avoided his gaze told him much more than he needed to know about her fight with Matt. More importantly, it told him she needed her cousin. "Sure," He answered, forcing himself to sound casual. Giving a wave of leave to the person behind him, he led Elena through the crowd. Vaguely, he could hear her on the phone over the sound of the music but focused on getting to the road, so they'd be easier to see. 

The duo made their way onto the main road and slowed their pace, letting their hands fall apart. His went to his jacket pockets, while hers were at her side. "So, you gonna tell me what it was about?"

"Nope."

"That bad?"

"I think I'm going to break up with him."

Henry grimaced, already thinking of how awkward it would be for him personally. A selfish outlook, sure, but stuck between a best friend and a cousin is just as bad as a rock and a hard place. His mouth ran dry as he tried to think of some type of comforting thing to say, but came up empty. "Yeah," Elena sighed, looking skyward. 

From the other side of the road, a raven haired man with blue eyes walked in the direction opposite of the Maxwell-Gilbert duo. Dressed in a leather jacket and jeans, he tilted his head as he took in the sight in front of him.

"Katherine?"

Trailing to a slow stop, a suspicious Henry and curious Elena stared at the man with neutral expressions. Clearly, he wasn't talking to him, but Henry answered anyway, gesturing between himself and his younger cousin. "No. Henry Maxwell. Elena Gilbert. How do you do?"

"Why are you giving out our government names?" Elena asked quietly, a nervous smile on her lips as she looked at the approaching stranger, fingers twisting into the fabric of Henry's shirt. He swatted at her hand, coming to stand in front of her instead of next to her.

"Government names." The man repeated, eyes still locked on Elena. She was getting uncomfortable now, shifting from foot to foot. "You remind me. . . so much of someone I used to know." He noted, lifting a hand out towards them. Henry instinctively took a step back, forcing Elena back as well. "Okay, okay, hey? Don't touch us, if that's alright with you."

The stranger dropped his hand, introducing himself as one Damon Salvatore.

The weirdest, twilight-type-shit happens after that and Henry gags at the way Elena seemingly hangs onto every word about a love that consumes her. It isn't until he spots lights coming in their direction that Elena and the guy -- Damon -- seems to snap out of it.

"As fun as this was, I can't have people knowing I'm in town just yet." Damon explained, and stepped forward to Elena. Henry watched warily, ready to intervene if needed, but all he did was get close and tell her to forget meeting him. Anxiously stepping away when blue eyes shifted to him, he attempted to subtly move closer to Elena. Damon snagged him by his shoulder, forcing him to look directly in his eyes. "You'll forget we ever met." He spoke, clearly and efficiently. 

Brows knitting together in confusion, Henry shrugged his hand off and straightened his back, dusting off his shoulder. "Yeah, fine, dude. Your eyes did a weird thing, I'd go to a doctor for that." 

"Huh." 

Damon seems to vanish in the blink of an eye after that, just as Grayson and Miranda Gilbert pull to the side of the road, sending smiles to both Elena and Henry. It was an act of letting them know they weren't mad that they needed to be picked up. They're good parents, but Henry still prefers them as an uncle and aunt. Honoring Damon's request, even though he has no reason to, Henry shoves the meeting out of mind and slides into the seat behind his uncle, fingers working to get his headphones out of his pocket before the door's even closed. 

Eyes shut, head tilted back and music blaring in his ears is how he prefers car rides, considering his motion sickness. Ever since the first time he ever rode in one, that he can remember, he's had it. 

He's almost asleep when the car swerves harshly, sending his phone into the middle seat and ripping his earbuds out of his ears. "Dad!" Elena screams, eyes almost comically wide in panic. They all feel the moment the car goes over the bridge, but it seems like slow motion when Henry inhales a deep breath, knowing what comes next. It doesn't help any, the impact hits him just as hard as it does everyone else and the air is knocked right out of him.

In and out of consciousness, the Maxwell sees his uncle trying to break the window with his elbow, to no avail. When he shuts his eyes, he sees a _beast_ coming towards him. It forces him to stay awake, fear of the unknown worse than the reality of drowning to him in the moment. He's dying, and his thoughts aren't coherent enough for him to have any last regrets or to pray to a God he isn't sure he believes in -- when he notices Elena has laced their fingers together, seemingly accepting this is the end for them. She loses consciousness not long after and he tries, he really does, to stay awake but that's the thing about drowning.

You can hold your breath until you feel like your head is going to explode, and then it's just instinct to let go, no matter how afraid of death you are.

He doesn't want to close his eyes and see the thing, animal, beast attacking him, so he waits until the very last second when he feels Elena's fingers slip out of his to close his eyes.

There's a split second before he loses consciousness that he feels a different hand reach out and grab him.


	2. the new normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five months after the accident that ripped Elena's parents away from her, the Maxwell family must adjust to the new normal of living in the same house as Jenna, Elena and Jeremy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, season one is so hard to be motivated for.
> 
> So, Henry makes a couple references to suicidal idealization, although he plays them off as jokes as a coping method. They aren't that deep on the surface but it's there, just as a warning.
> 
> This is only half of episode one (sort of) but the next chapter will be the other half and then episode two with it. This is kinda fun, a breather, and delves into some of his relationships with the main characters (so far).

Henry wasn't the type of guy to complain, he wasn't, really. That time when he was twelve and he had to carry Meredith on his back for what felt like hours after she twisted her ankle, he didn't complain about it not once. The time when Jeremy kicked his ball over the gated fence into the woods when the kid was eight and too scared to go get it, he did it without being asked. Even the time when Tyler ran away from home all the way to the Maxwell house, he didn't complain about having to hide him in his room because that was a one time situation and come on, the Lockwood family sucks.

However, here he stands, looking in the mirror, grumbling about the fact he's actually debating wearing make up to hide the bags under his eyes. It's not like anyone would be rude enough to ask him about it (bar the aforementioned Tyler), but there's the entire dilemma about hiding it from his parents. For the past five months, ever since he woke up in a hospital room with his mother _wailing_ down the hall because of her brother's death, he's been hiding things. They aren't that type of family, he just thinks it might be better not to stress her out while she's still grieving.

His father seemed to have the same mindset. Neither one of them were sure what moving into Uncle Grayson's house would do for the grief but being closer to him, and his kids, had helped. That was only part of the reason they moved in. Jenna was coming back to Mystic Falls to look after Elena and Jeremy, even though she wasn't too confident in her abilities to do so. Elena had gotten attached to Henry more so than she was before after the accident, the doctors said something about shared trauma and connection, but it all boils down to the point they were both in the car when it went off the bridge. He knew she blamed herself and on some level, if he had died, he fears his parents might have blamed her too. 

So they moved into the Gilbert house. Jenna in the bedroom that was more or less already claimed by her years prior, his parents in the master bedroom, and Henry to the guest bedroom. _His_ bedroom, now.

"I'll be fine." He chants under his breath, pulling away from the mirror and his thoughts before he can change his mind. The one advantage of having a room on a first floor was that he had access to the kitchen (and everything else) quicker. A disadvantage was that he would be murdered first if anyone ever broke in, but that hadn't happened yet. Breezing by Elena who was walking too slow for his taste, he made a beeline for the coffee maker.

"What if we're forgetting something? Are we sure we got this? Toast? Number two pencils?" Jenna listed in a frenzy. "It's all about the coffee, aunt Jenna." Elena chirped, smacking the back of Henry's head when she got close enough.

"We've done this a couple times, little J." Robert offered a half smile to his sister in law, taking the toast she offered regardless. "They'll be alright. Don't you have somewhere to be, though?"

"No?" She asked, squinting in thought. "Do I?"

A silence fell upon the kitchen as the two Maxwell men and Elena stared at Jenna, wearing various expressions of amusement. She was taking this legal guardian thing very, very seriously and they all commended her for it, but she forgot about her own schedule in the process of learning theirs. 

The sound of heels clicking broke the silence, mom walking into the room with a neutral expression, taking in the sight of all of them standing mostly still. After a couple seconds, she took charge as Gilberts were known to do. A new last name can't change a person, after all. "Jenna, you need to be getting ready for your presentation. Robert, you need to be getting ready for work." Turning to look at the teenagers over her shoulder, she pointed a manicured finger at her son, who had his mug halfway to his mouth, "Henry, one of you go get Jeremy. No coffee for you."

"Wait, why?" He blurted out. Jenna pursed her lips, turning to hide her expression from the teenagers as she gathered her things for her presentation. His father had no such reservations, and whistled theatrically. 

His mother, however, turned to fully face him and narrowed her eyes. "Come again?" 

"I said I'm going to get Jeremy." He rectified with a sigh. 

"I'm right here." The boy in question said, taking the cup of coffee from his cousin's hands with a half grin formed on his lips. "Everyone out in five minutes." Robert laughed, watching his son and his cousins trade licks, knowing they would go on for at least another fifteen minutes if he let them.

Robert, Jenna and Jeremy all departed at the same time, Robert having offered to drop them off. Judith Maxwell, in all her mom-wife-aunt extraordinaire swept through the kitchen cleaning up the left over mess. "I'm getting a ride from Bonnie. You coming?"

Henry pursed his lips, resisting the urge to make a joke about the accident. His therapist had called it a coping method, but Matt called it insensitive and Tyler called it awkward.

("What the hell are we supposed to say to that?" Tyler asked, bewildered. "Funny joke? Elena would be pissed."

"Because it's not funny." Matt huffed.

"Pussies. I was the one in the accident.")

"No thanks." Henry replied weakly, "I'm just gonna walk."

From the corner of his eye, he noticed his mom momentarily pause and Elena offered a sympathetic smile before turning and leaving, waving to her aunt as she went. Henry gathered his things quickly, making a beeline for the door, ignoring his mother's last minute call of his name.

Yes, she could easily catch up with him if she decided to do so with her car, but maybe then she'd hit him and he'd be in a car accident that would actually kill him.

Fuck Tyler, Matt and his therapist. He was funny.

* * *

"You alright?" 

Henry blinked up at the voice that came from the guy blocking the sunlight, squinting in confusion. "Yeah, why?"

"You're sort of just laying on the ground there." 

"So?"

"So . . . did you fall?"

Henry snorted, closing his eyes again. "Yes, good Samaritan, I've fallen and I can't get up. Imagine that. I think my back might be broken, call life alert."

The stranger in question laughed down at him, ignoring the teasing tone Henry used. Stefan Salvatore had only caught a glimpse of Henry the night he saved Elena, the guilt had been building inside of him for months for the fact he hadn't saved Henry too, but he survived. Somehow. It was still bothering him. "I'm Stefan."

Realizing he wasn't going to spend his last five minutes of peace before class started alone, Henry blew out a huff but sat up anyway, properly taking a look at Stefan. "Henry. I'm assuming you're new?" 

"On my way to the office now." He confirmed, holding a hand down to Henry. "You coming?"

Clicking his tongue, Henry easily accepted the extended hand and let himself be pulled up. "Why the hell not?"

The walk to the office was semi-awkward and spent in silence, much to Henry's dismay. Stefan seemed nice enough, if not a little quiet and broody, but he still hadn't planned on making friends with juniors. Anymore, anyway. It was his senior year, he was competing with Heathrow Jackson (Who names a kid Heathrow? Assholes. The entire family.) for valedictorian, and the only person he really liked in his own grade was Vicki. Sometimes.

"We're here." Stefan interrupts his internal tirade, smiling awkwardly at him. "So we are." He agrees, patting the side of his leg and nodding. "So... good luck. Hope to see you around." He cringes at his own words, but offers the most genuine smile he can muster, walking out of the office before he could reply. 

He runs right into Elena and Bonnie, who are staring at Stefan with interest. Oh, wonderful. He just _can't wait_ until Matt finds out. "Making friends with the new kid. Very different of you." Elena says inquisitively, raising her eyebrows. Bonnie's eyes widen a bit, always hating to be in the middle of this, and she glances around for a quick escape. Saved by the metaphorical bell, Elena and Henry's heads both snap in the direction of someone saying 'good batch, Jeremy' and the reaction is almost instantaneous, both of them following Jeremy into the boys bathroom.

Elena gets there quicker than he does, and Henry comes to a hard stop, considering going inside. "Do I really wanna be associated with the weird kids who have family meetings in the bathroom?" He thought aloud, weighing his options. "Nah. I'm gonna walk away. She's definitely probably got this."

With that, he swivels and heads in the direction of his first period, ignoring everyone in his path. 

* * *

Rolling his shoulders, Henry inhaled sharply to catch his breath, hands tightly gripping his knees. God, high school football is fucking ridiculous. He's a senior. He's graduating this year. He should not have to--

Eyes flickering over just a second too late, he grunts in pain from being tackled to the ground, shoving Tyler off. "What the hell, Ty?"

"I have a problem." Tyler explained, laying on the ground next to him. "I've been hooking up with Vicki nearly all summer since the night you guys-- you know. She was looking for you and we were both drunk, but it's become a thing. And now she's like, into me or whatever, but my parents are _not_ gonna go for that."

Henry wondered to himself when Tyler heard him say 'go on, i'm here to listen' but decided not to ask aloud. "Alright." He said instead, "Does Matt know?"

"Yes, Matt absolutely knows I'm banging his sister. Did Matt tell you when he started ban-"

"We're done here." The Maxwell said abruptly, pushing himself off and kicking Tyler in the side as he passed him. "You're a dick, Tyler!"

* * *

"You asked him what he was doing in a cemetery?" 

Elena put her hands over her face, blowing out a sigh at her cousin's incredulous tone. She wouldn't be seeing the girls until later and she needed someone to talk to about her embarrassing encounter with Stefan today. "It was weird! There was this crow and fog and I fell and then bam, he was right there."

Clicking his tongue, Henry didn't bother looking up while he finished his homework, opting to do it all before anything else. Unfortunately, his family knew that and he got bombarded at the kitchen table with girl talk. Or boy talk. One of the two. "And did you apologize for asking him why he was in a cemetery, ergo reminding him that he was in a cemetery visiting his dead family?"

"You're focusing on the wrong thing—"

"Don't think I am, but okay."

"—The point is, he has the prettiest eyes."

That got him to look up, confusion clear across his face. She had started a tale of how she met Stefan not only in a bathroom, but also in a cemetery, and somehow, that was the point. 

Saved by the druggie little brother-slash-cousin, Jeremy walked into the kitchen and quickly backpedaled when he saw the two of them. "Hold it, Jer." Elena huffed. Henry blanched, switching his gear from writing down his answers to gathering his papers. He didn't care how close this family insisted on being. He would not bear witness to Elena scolding Jeremy. Mostly because he would laugh, but also because they would make him pick a side.

"What?"

"Henry and I want to talk to you."

 _Bitch_.

Henry only caught a quick glimpse of the look of betrayal Jeremy sent his way, too busy glaring at Elena himself. " _We_ do?" Elena grimaced at his harsh tone, but he had to give it to her; she shouldered on. Whether it was for the sake of trying to get through to her younger brother or not, he had no idea, but he was completely sure he had no interest in pretending either one of them had any room to judge the kid for coping how he wanted.

"Look, Elena, I got your message loud and clear. You don't want me to do anything you wouldn't do, but I'm not you. I can do what I want, when I want. It's not even that bad. You should try it sometimes, you'd both be a little less uptight."

Jeremy left the kitchen right after he finished, leaving a bewildered Henry and affronted Elena in the wake of his words. "I am not uptight!" Henry exclaimed at his cousin's retreating back.

"He just told us to do drugs, and _that's_ what you're worried about?"

* * *

A Maxwell, Lockwood and Donovan sit at a table and—

"I just don't think she should be so trusting of the new guy." Matt sighs for the fifth time. Tyler nods solemnly in support of his ranting. "I totally get it. Yeah. I mean, she broke up with you and now she's suddenly with the new guy."

"Matt, come on. They just met. And not only that, but they met outside the guys' bathroom and in a cemetery of all places." Henry tried, sending an encouraging smile to his blond best friend.

"What was that creep doing in a cemetery?" Tyler questioned, knitting his brows together in confusion.

Matt groaned, letting his head fall onto his arms on the table. "Here I am, complaining, when Elena was visiting her parents' graves today. I'm such a dick."

They shared an inconspicuous glance over Matt's head, before they both put a hand on one of his shoulders. "Hey, if it helps, she asked him why he was in a cemetery and made a complete fool of herself." 

"That does help." Matt replied shamelessly, his voice muffled by the fabric of his jacket covering his mouth. 

Nursing a soft drink in his free hand, he cackled at the honesty. Eventually, Matt sat up with a small smile of his own, shaking his head. "That's so wrong."

"You mind shutting up and not disturbing the other customers?" Vicki huffed, smacking the back of Henry's head when she got close enough to do so. Matt snorted, used to their antics. Henry only glowered, grumbling under his breath about Donovans. Vicki ignored him, flirtatiously leaning over Tyler to get his cup even though she had to walk around the other side of the table to do it that way, specifically. "Get you a refill?" 

Matt's laughing abruptly stopped, eyeing his sister and best friend suspiciously when Tyler took a moment longer than necessary to say yes. "Please tell me you're not hooking up with my sister."

"I'm not hooking up with your sister." Tyler replied without missing a beat.

"You're such a dick." Henry and Matt chorused, both grinning from ear to ear. 

And it was true, for the most part. Tyler Lockwood was definitely a dick, but he was the kind of dick who could always make his best friends cackle, no matter the situation. Matt was sort of the opposite of that. He was fun without being mean, and being the boy-next-door is kind of his thing. If you asked Henry, he basically raised these two into the guys they were today. 

(" _You do realize you're only a year older than us?" Matt pointed out a couple months ago when he first made the claim._ _Henry shrugged, picking at the stitches on the outside of his right hand, itching to get them out but that wouldn't be for another week. "So? You two are like my sons."_

_"Which one of us is your favorite?"_

_"Definitely not the one who broke my hand."_

_"It was an accident! How many times do I have to say sorry?!"_

_"Just once would be nice! I raised you better than that."_ )

Tyler whistled lowly, nodding his head towards the door. "Elena, new guy and new girl."

Matt and Henry twisted in their seats to get a better view, one confused and one slightly jealous. "There was a new girl today too? Think they're related?"

Vicki returned with Tyler's refill at that moment, slamming the cup down on the table harder than necessary, and getting their attention in the process. "You three act like you've never seen a girl before."

Pursing his lips together, he resisted the urge to make a crude remark, more out of respect for Matt than Vicki herself. However, there was only so much you could ask from him.

"Let's go introduce ourselves, fellas."

All three sent charming smiles to Vicki who glared at Henry and Tyler respectively before the trio got up, walking in a single-file line from oldest to youngest, to the table where Elena and her girls sat with Stefan and, well, the new girl. "Oh, God." Meredith groaned once she saw them, rolling her eyes before any of them could say anything.

"Go away." Caroline agreed, staring at them in distate.

"Did you guys wanna join us?"

Thank God Stefan can't read the room. "No, we just wanted to come introduce ourselves. I'm Matt, this is Henry, and this is Tyler." Matt said as kindly as he could, his face actually not contorted in pain just from speaking to him. 

"This is Stefan," Caroline stated before anyone else could speak, pointing to Stefan. Without missing a beat, she pointed to the girl at the table. "And his sister, Guinevere."

"Just Gwen is fine." The girl in question offered.

"Stop pointing, it's rude." Henry scolded, smacking her hand down. Caroline's jaw dropped open, inhaling a deep breath before she launched off into a rant.

Tyler's quick mutter of 'fuck that' was heard before he and Matt turned and walked away, abandoning Henry all by his lonesome. "Why do you do this to yourself?" Bonnie asked with a smile, looking up at the Maxwell. Everyone was ignoring Caroline, who hadn't seemed to notice yet. Henry chortled, shaking his head down at her. "Me? You're her best friend. I don't know how you do it."

"Go. Away." Meredith repeated slowly, leveling Henry with a glare.

He wasn't scared of her.

 _Really_ , he wasn't. It's just he had done what he came to do, so he really didn't need to be there anymore. That's why he walked away so fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this chapter seems boring it's because season one is literally boring as shit, so help me god, rewatching makes me want to Perish. 
> 
> If you're in the USA, go vote. Chris Evans wants you to.


	3. bad vibes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tanner makes an ass of himself with none other than Meredith Sulez & Stefan Salvatore's help; the party kicks off in full blast that same night. And it ends not soon after after the attack of Vicki Donovan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the wait. I have work and class and a tragic lack of motivation for season one, but I keep writing scenes for season two, three and four so I guess I have to get through it. Bright side, I've written out the next few episodes to upload on a semi steady schedule.... starting in November. For now, I'm just gonna upload chapters as soon as I finish them. Rest assured, the next wait won't be a month long.

" _Mister Maxwell_ ," Tanner's sharp voice cut through Mathew's internal monologue of reciting the most recent episode of General Hospital he watched with his mother, effectively snapping him back to reality.

"What?" He asked intelligently.

Sniggers and giggles littered throughout the otherwise quiet room, seniors and juniors mixed in the same class based on their schedules, including both Henry and Elena. Rarely does it happen; not for any reason other than he actively tries to avoid giving anyone any type of vendetta against their family. It wouldn't be a problem if he weren't such a smart ass and Elena didn't make a habit of entertaining him behind the scenes. "I said, how many causalities resulted in the battle of Willow Creek? Ms. Bennett chose to be cheeky, Mr. Donovan is _painfully_ okay with being a dumb jock, and I've decided as the oldest person in this class, you should grace us all with the answer." Tanner didn't know how wrong he was, Henry was not by far the oldest person in the class, but that wasn't common knowledge.

The people-pleasing-teacher's-pet he was, Henry's mouth automatically answered to shoot off an answer to make up for his lack of paying attention, but he, in no uncertain terms, didn't know. "I... don't know." He admitted, face burning in embarrassment. Slouching his shoulders in an attempt to make himself seem smaller, he purposely avoided his teacher's narrowed eyes.

"Miss Gilbert," Tanner eventually said, "Surely you can inform us what you cousin couldn't." 

"I'm sorry, I don't know," Elena answered bitterly, keeping a tight smile on her face. 

Tanner blew out a sigh, glaring at Henry and Elena simultaneously (which was a feat in itself, considering they weren't even near each other). "I was willing to be lenient back in May for obvious reasons, but the personal excuses ended with summer break."

Elena's smile immediately dropped, the color draining from her face while Henry's jaw slacked open. He sat up, a defensive remark on the tip of his tongue before an easily recognizable voice spoke up.

"There were 346 casualties." Meredith snapped, slamming her hand down in a fist on her desk. Before Tanner could reprimand her, Stefan added in, "Unless you're counting civilian casualties." 

"Thank you, Miss Sulez and Mister. . ."

"Salvatore."

"Any relation to the original settlers here in Mystic Falls?" 

Stefan smiled, "Distant."

"Very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Tanner said smugly, satisfied with having embarrassed two students, called another two dumb, probably thinking of how to humiliate Meredith later and correcting the newest student. 

Stefan tilted his head in a condescending manner, clicking his tongue. "Actually, there were twenty seven, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing. They were wrong, it was a great loss. The founder's archive, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

 _Sir_ has never sounded so much like a 'fuck you'.

* * *

Henry laid flat on his back, staring at the sky and tapping his fingers in a rhythmic fashion on his stomach.

After his embarrassment in history class, he ditched the rest of the school day. He had long since changed the number on his contact list for such things to Vicki's number, since he agreed to do the same for her. They had a complicated relationship. He knows that she's sleeping with either his best friend or his youngest cousin and dating the other, but that's as far as his knowledge on her personal life went.

And her knowledge extended to knowing his aunt and uncle died, and that's about it.

It was one of his healthiest relationships by far.

The cemetery was better to be at when everyone else was at school or work; he didn't have to talk to creeps who asked who died, as if that wasn't the most insensitive thing to ask someone in a cemetery. 

"Who died?"

But not everyone works or goes to school, he supposes. With a long suffering sigh, he hauls himself into a sitting position, inquisitive look trained on a familiar face. "Do I know you?"

"You shouldn't," He answered simply, "but you do. Haven't figured out how yet, but that's sort of throwing a wrench in things."

He thinks, that if he were in a movie, he would be the guy who gets killed first. Being in a cemetery alone always seems like a bad idea in _theory_ , but it being daylight makes it less intimidating. Forcing himself not to make any sudden movements, he keeps his expression neutral. Something his uncle John had taught him a long time ago, was to not entertain or piss off strangers who could potentially kill you, just get as far away as possible. Of course, that same day, John pissed off Jenna, so he took everything with a grain of salt.

They just stand there; staring at each other, one predatorily and one warily. Finally, the guy takes a step forward. "Okay, wait," Henry quickly exhales, holding his hands out defensively, palm outwards while getting halfway up. Blue eyed ravenous creep comes to a hard stop, as if being held back, his false cheery expression filtering out to show his true irritation.

"Dames," Guinevere says, and despite how fond her voice is, she startles the everlasting shit out of Henry. "Jesus fucking Christ, Gwen," He grunts, taking the chance to completely stand and put distance between himself and Dames — Damon! That's his name!

Damon, still irritated, directs a smile in her direction. Henry contemplates abandoning her, satisfied enough in the fact that she seemingly knows him to assuage any guilt he might feel about it later. Walking backwards and narrowly avoiding his uncle's grave, he waits until he's standing behind her to ask. "You know him?"

"He's my brother."

Another glance at Damon standing unnaturally still and Henry is off, sprinting out of the cemetery as fast he can once he's out of their eyesight. He doesn't know Damon couldn't move until he was out of his eyesight, too.

* * *

Henry shrugged the hand off of his shoulder, barely withholding a grimace at being touched in the first place.

"Chill out, man, it's a party," Tyler reminded him, holding up his bottle as for emphasis.

It wasn't just a party. It was the first party he'd been at since the night of the accident, and he was itching to leave already. He was hoping, however, that Elena or Jeremy would initiate wanting to leave as he promised Jenna he'd look out for them. So far, no dice.

Elena, at the very least, was within his eyesight. She stood talking to Stefan, no beer in sight, which is more than he could say for Jeremy. "You seen Jer?" He asked, pulling the beer bottle from his younger friend's hand. "Somewhere in the woods with Vicki."

Ignoring his spite filled tone, he took a final look towards Elena and a nod to Stefan, he started off for the woods in search of Jeremy.

He only got so far. A tug on his jacket gave him pause, finding Bonnie instead of Elena this time. "I know I'm not psychic," She said without giving him a chance to ask what was wrong, "But I was joking around and I touched Elena and there was this weird guy and a crow and just look out for her, okay?"

"Take a breath, Bonnie. Elena's fine. She's with Stefan."

"The guy didn't look like Stefan." Bonnie reasons with herself, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "Never seen him before. I still got bad vibes. I could just feel it. That's not psychic right? It's best friend intuition."

"That's probably not a thing, but if it makes you feel better." He amends, pulling his jacket out of her grip. "I'm looking for Jeremy, so just stay with Meredith or Caroline and you'll be safe."

"Unless we all die."

"Way to be optimistic, Bennett." 

She grins, shooting him a thumbs up and jokingly pulling it across her throat in a neck slitting motion. Readjusting his jacket, he continued on the path the woods set out for him. Filtered throughout these same woods were the voices, drunk ramblings and giggling of his classmates and locals in the town. Listening out for Jeremy was a near impossible feat. 

He trudged his way out far enough to be alone, inhaling a sharp breath. Henry hated being here. Hated parties, hated crowds, hated nights like this where everything is going too fucking well for something not to be wrong and he can't find them. His therapist told him it was fine to recharge, to just go home if things got too much, but what did she know? He'd be fine, he just needed to take a breather.

Lowering himself to the ground, his back pressed against a tree to give him a steady feeling. For whatever reason, Henry never felt more at peace than in a certain part of the woods. Then again, he never felt more unnerved in a different part. Distantly, he heard two voices arguing, knowing them to be Elena and Jeremy. And like every time they argue, he's glad that he's the oldest and doesn't have any older siblings to answer to.

Tilting his head to the side, he eyes the trees filled with carvings he made when he was younger and ran away, feeling displaced, standing to trace them with his fingers. He had no luxury of not knowing he was adopted as it was so often depicted in fictional shows, he's known since the day they had to give him a name, clean the dried blood off his skin and take his DNA to see if he had anyone in the system he was related to.

He didn't.

He never knew and still doesn't know where he came from, but he's given up on asking. Robert and Judith weren't bad parents, and they were undoubtedly his parents. He was still curious. 

The ' _H. M._ ' leaves a mark on something permanent, or at least, that was his original motivation.

H. M.

Henry Maxwell.

" **VICKI**!"

Yanking his hand back, he took off running as fast as his feet would take him, following the sound of Jeremy's cries. His legs burned from the lack of oxygen and he couldn't help but feel a bout of relief when he dropped to his knees where Jeremy and Elena were crouched on the ground, wearing similar expressions of horror. "Vicki, Vicki, oh my God," Jeremy muttered, tears pooling in his eyes.

"Something attacked her." Elena cried, hands hovering over the bite mark on her neck, fearful of the blood spilling from the wound. 

Sliding his arms up under her upper back and her knees, Henry exhaled a huff and pushed himself off the ground, ignoring the panic building in his chest and surging forward. The sound of the music is drowned out by Elena and Jeremy's shouting on either side of him; and all that he can focus on is the fearful expression on Matt's face.

* * *

The flashing of the police lights were what Henry focused on to keep his composure, bloody fingers idly scratching his chest where the scars he's had for as long as he can remember, literally, remain an ever present reminder of something attacking him so badly he lost his memory over it.

Next to him, Jeremy sat with a beer in his hands, eyes bloodshot red and sniffling every five seconds. It'd be annoying if he hadn't literally just been traumatized. "I called aunt Jenna," Elena says when she suddenly materializes in front of them. His gaze drags from the sirens to his cousin, frowning at how put-together she seems. It's an act, he knows that, it doesn't make it any less annoying she's pretending to have her shit more together than either he or Jeremy.

"You see those people in uniforms?" She scoffs, nodding her head subtly to the officers standing not too far away. "They're the police, last time I checked. People are going to stop giving us breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try too."

Jeremy glared, pushing himself up and towering over his sister in his full height. "Both of you," Henry snapped angrily, snatching the beer from Jeremy's hands. "Need to get a fucking grip. You can't drink and smoke your life away, and _you_ can't tell someone how to grieve."

"I don't want to tell him how to grieve," She replied defensively. "I just want to help, I don't want what Tanner did to us to happen to him."

"What did Tanner do to you?" The youngest asked, looking between his cousin and sister helplessly. Henry bit his tongue, running a hand down his face in exhaustion. "Talk to each other, you idiots." Was his last plea, trudging away from them towards Tyler, who was trying to hide from the police in order to avoid them calling his parents. "I'll take you home. You don't want your dad to pick you up here." 

"I'm _plastered_ ," Tyler admitted freely.

"Grill it is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll notice Elena reacts to some things differently than she did in the show. I'd like to say it's because she's had Henry to lean on through this experience who went through it with her, but it's also just because I'm not KW/JP and I don't hate her or plan on ignoring her trauma.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you haven't gathered by this point, the main character is a revived/reborn Henrik Mikaelson. I also added additional Mikaelson characters, whose stories I might tell in different books of the series, because I can't help myself, but they won't be making a reappearance until season two.
> 
> I imagine Matthew Daddario as the main character, but you can imagine who you want.
> 
> This story will go through seasons 1 & 2 of The Vampire Diaries, another book will be posted for seasons 3 & 4 (when I'm done with this one). 
> 
> So... keep up with it if you want.


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